Rome

The scarlet sun is aslant

On the frothing ocean’s edge;

The doomed sailors chant

As pledge begets pledge.

There has come a shivering blight

In dissent’s dying meadows,

And as dawn sheds off night

The soldiers become shadows.

The bridges will fall,

The walls will crumble;

The merchants are gone,

The kings are humbled.

The fires will forge a new day

Oh, but Rome burns today.

To the sleepy summer glades

The insidious blight has spread;

Like the plague descend the blades

And discontent is dead.

The mountains will stain

The rivers will dry;

They are listening for the rain

But they hear a battle-cry.

The bridges will fall,

The walls will crumble;

The wolves will call,

The thunder will rumble.

The fires will forge a new day

Oh, but Rome burns today.

Rome burns

Today.